Dennison-Davidson Home in the Early 20th Century

      The Hackleman children, who lived at 5438 Lowell Avenue, had plenty of playmates in the neighborhood. They must have been particularly excited when the Davidson family moved into 5428 Lowell Avenue because the children in that house were of similar ages. Photos from the Hackleman family collection reveal that the children frequently played next door.  

     We are still learning about the earliest history of the two-story Dutch Colonial Revival home, but we do know that Arthur E. Dennison purchased the lot for his future home at 5428 Lowell Avenue in September of 1903. By 1904, Dennison had moved into the house. City directories indicate that he was a landscape architect and the president of the Kant-Swag Gate Company. An ad in the Indianapolis Star in 1906 boasted that Mr. Dennison's farm gates were "bull strong" and would "last a lifetime and never sag." We do not know much about Mr. Dennison or his family yet, but he moved out in 1908 paving the way for Robert and Mary Galvin Davidson to buy the property in either 1908 or 1909. They remained for the next two decades. 

      Mr. Davidson was an attorney with an office in downtown Indianapolis. Mrs. Davidson stayed home and raised their children, Margaret, Katherine, Mary, and little Robert, who died at age two . The three older girls played with the three Hackleman girls. Photos revealed that they staged elaborate costume parties or perhaps plays. To learn more about the Davidson family, click on the link below the post. 

Neighborhood children enjoyed swinging in the front yard at 5438 Lowell Avenue c1911. Behind the girls, you can see the Dennison-Davidson home at 5428 Lowell Avenue. (photo courtesy of Anne Gribble Spurgeon) 

Neighborhood children observed a calf at 5438 Lowell Avenue. Behind the girls, you can see the Dennison-Davidson home at 5428 Lowell Avenue. The photo is remarkable because if you look closely you can see the side of the large house at 5408 Lowell Avenue. That home has been gone for decades. (photo c1910 courtesy of Anne Gribble Spurgeon) 

Neighborhood children posed with a pet calf and dog c1910 in the backyard at 5438 Lowell Avenue. Behind the girls, you can see the Dennison-Davidson home at 5428 Lowell Avenue. (photo courtesy of Anne Gribble Spurgeon) 

Mary Galvin Davidson posed with her three daughters, Margaret, Katherine, and Mary c1910. The Davidsons lived at 5428 Lowell Avenue for many years. (photo courtesy of the descendants of the Davidson family via Ancestry.com) 

Members of the Davidson and Hackleman families and perhaps other neighborhood children gathered on the lawn for a costume party at 5428 Lowell Avenue c1914. (photo courtesy of Anne Gribble Spurgeon)

Children in costumes posed on the lawn of 5428 Lowell Avenue c1914. (photo courtesy of Anne Gribble Spurgeon)

A girl in a costume posed on the porch of the Dennison-Davidson home at 5428 Lowell Avenue c1914. (photo courtesy of Anne Gribble Spurgeon) 

Children acted out a scene from "Princess Winsome" at the Dennison-Davidson home at 5428 Lowell Avenue on July 26, 1911. The Indianapolis News on page seven of that date identified the girl on the porch as Eunice Bickel.  (photo courtesy of Anne Gribble Spurgeon) 

     I would like to thank Anne Gribble Spurgeon for the generous use of her family archival collection. I would also like to thank Paula Schmidt and Steve Barnett at the Irvington Historical Society. 

Irvington Historical Society

Sources: Dennison era--Ad, Indianapolis Star, June 15, 1906, 2; Polk's Indianapolis City Directories, 1904-1908. 5408 Lowell Avenue--Larry Muncie, Irvington Album, Indianapolis, 1994, 50. Mr. Muncie published a 1912 photo of the house in his book. For information on the Davidson family, click on the link below. 

Davidson Home Renaissance--5428 Lowell Avenue

For decades it sat hidden behind a forest of trees neglected and abandoned. For years I admired the beautiful wreck as it stood against the elements. I often wondered about the mysterious property with the giant gingko tree towering over Lowell Avenue. I looked for any signs of life as if the Charles Dickens' character Miss Havisham might appear in the window in her wedding dress at any moment. I photographed the place often and imagined what it might have been like when the Davidson family dwelled here. Then a miracle happened. A wonderful young couple purchased the house and began to bring the home back from the brink. By 2011, they had restored the splendor of the place.

While many people have lived in the house, Robert F. and Mary Galvin Davidson and their children lived in the home from the early twentieth century through the 1930s. Mr. Davidson was a prominent attorney and made his money defending insurance, railway, and telegraph companies. He met his wife while a student at Butler University. Mary Galvin came from a prominent Irvington family who dwelled along Downey Avenue. They married on April 18, 1900. They would have four children although their only son Robert Jr. died at age five on November 26, 1917.

Mrs. Davidson was an active club woman and she frequently hosted meetings at her lovely home. She was very much involved in her children's lives. In 1921, she took all three of her daughters, Margaret Layne (age 19), Katherine K. (age 17), and Mary Elizabeth (age 12) on a tour of Europe. They departed New York City on October 1 and sailed on the Rochambeau for Hauvre, France. For several weeks they traversed the French countryside. Then they departed for Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and Great Britain. They would return to Europe again in 1927 and follow a similar path. Mr. Davidson stayed home to earn money.

While the ladies of the house vacationed in Europe, Mr. Davidson volunteered their home to serve as a temporary dwelling for Dr. Robert J. Aley, the new President of Butler University. Mr. Davidson served on Butler's Board of Directors through part of the 1920s. It also appears that Butler students rented rooms as well.

The family frequently summered in the Adirondacks. Their oldest daughter Margaret studied voice under renown teacher Oscar Seagle at his summer school in Northover Camp at Bound Brook, New York. Mr. Davidson frequently joined the family at the summer cottage, but he did not stay for the entire summer.

The Davidsons, like many Irvington families, are now gone. Each house in the neighborhood tells a different story. A once beautiful home, falling into ruin, and now beautiful again, is testimony to the continuum of life in this community. The family who saved this house will have their own stories to add. Perhaps someday, one hundred years from today, someone will walk by this house and wonder who lived here?

About the images: The historic photo was taken during the winter of 1920. Note the sleeping porch had not yet been added. The photos that show the house in a neglected state were taken during the winter of 2005 and the spring of 2006. The newest photos were shot during the early spring of 2011.